Notice of RetractionOzone/Ultrasound Degradation Effect on Residual Pesticides in Commercially Available Apples

Notice of Retraction

After careful and considered review of the content of this paper by a duly constituted expert committee, this paper has been found to be in violation of IEEE´s Publication Principles.

We hereby retract the content of this paper. Reasonable effort should be made to remove all past references to this paper.

The presenting author of this paper has the option to appeal this decision by contacting TPII@ieee.org.

Ozone/ultrasound process is a promising method for treating refractory organics. Nevertheless, little is known about the ozone/ultrasound degradation effect on residual pesticides in fruits and vegetables. In this work, the presence of residual pesticides and the ozone/ultrasound degradation effect on pesticides in commercially available apples were investigated. Four pesticides, i.e. malathion, diphenylamine, carbendazim, and chlorothalonil were found in the assayed apples. Three of them were post-harvest pesticides except for malathion, a organophosphorus pesticide which was the residue of field spraying. The data obtained in the degradation assays showed that the effect of ozone/ultrasound treatment was better than single ultrasound and single ozone water process. Our study suggests that this ozone/ultrasound process is a promising degradation method for residual pesticides in commercially available apples.